Inside the arena.
The arena was literally a cockpit where the audience watches us from an elevated area with cages surrounding the pit.
I stand before a bulky bald man. He seemed to be in his prime as his body is emanating a certain amount of vigor and intimidation. He looks at me with a condescending smile as he snickers from time to time.
"Place your bets ladies and gentlemen! On the right side we have Maximillian!"
'Maximillian? Cool name' I thought to myself as the announcer introduces us to the crowd.
"And on the left side, we have!! Ocho!!"
After a bunch of shenanigans and the bets were placed in an overwhelming favor against me.
The battle started and as soon as the bell rang, Maximiliian rushed towards me.
I was thinking along the lines of 'I could end this immediately by crushing his jaws but, I need to make sure the battle lasts for 5 minutes... Guess I'll give the crowd a show'
Maximillian pinned me down to the ground and started raining punches at me while I shielded my head with my arms. Then Maximillian picked me up by the neck and threw his knees at my solar plexus before punching me in the ribs with his other fist.
Of course I'm letting him do as he please, while cautiously minimizing the damage to me.
But as soon as the timer hits 4 minutes and 50 seconds, I'll end this joke of a fight immediately.
The fight went on and Maximillian continued beating me up, unsurprisingly, the crowd loves what their seeing.
Then the moment I've been waiting for, arrived.
First, I dodged the incoming punch by swerving to the lower right, then I countered with a punch of my own on Maximillians upper ribs.
I made sure that I cracked it with all my might.
His face contorted and he backed away immediately. I did not let him have a breathing room as I rushed and leaped to give him a good knee to the head attack.
His eyes started rolling upwards indicating that he just lost consciousness, but I'm still not done yet.
I uppercut him in the lower stomach which brought his consciousness back.
'4 more seconds'
I took his left hand and pulled him towards me and punched him in the nose as hard as I could. And another punch that made him pass out once again.
The bell rang when the referee realized that my opponent cannot continue to fight.
'Exactly 5 minutes'
Since this was a fight without any sort of protective equipment, Maximillian's face was all bloodied.
I exited the cockpit arena while the crowd chanted my name.
"OCHO!OCHO!OCHO!"
But before I could return to the locker room, I sensed a large amount of Bloodlust from the crowd.
As a trained hitman, I instinctively redirected my line of sight directly at the source of bloodlust.
From the crowd I saw a guy probably the same age as me. His eyes were droopy and his long black hair was tied on a man bun.
We stared at each other for a good 10 seconds before he retracted his bloodlust, which I then followed up to.
He disappeared from the crowd after our little confrontation.
I went back to the locker room with full alert from my surroundings.
Ozzy went to my side immediately and checked up on me.
"Hey kid! You're still alive?!"
-------
Inside a room a few areas near the cockpit arena
'That guy. He's dangerous. His bloodlust is thicker than mine. Just how many did he kill already. We're just the same age.'
"Levi, where had you been? Our clients are about to be here"
A girl by the age of 17 talked to the droopy-eyed person named Levi, the same person Ocho confronted with.
"Sightseeing, lady Rizzanel"
"This place is a dump, what were you 'sightseeing' hmm?"
"...muscle...men."
"....Ohhh you meant the fighters right? Please tell me I'm right"
"Yes lady Rizannel..."
'lady Rizzanel seems to be bored right now, I think I should talk to her some more. But about what? When I took this mission as her bodyguard, never have I expected that I would need to constantly communicate with her. But even if I don't, she won't be able to blame me. Its just that....'
"Milady"
"I told you to stop calling me that. Its been 5 years already."
"Then....Rizza.... have you enrolled at the academy already?"
"You mean ICARUS Academy? of course. Oh now that you mentioned it, I enrolled you too. We're going to be classmates."
'ICARUS Academy, a prestigious school on a prosperous nation known as ICARUS. Children of influential people from different backgrounds would be studying there.'
"I appreciate the sentiment la- Rizza... But I cannot-"
"Did you know levi? That once you graduated at that school after 4 years. Various business companies and associations will flock towards you."
"I am aware of the high demand for graduates of ICARUS High. As well as the uniqueness of that school. But as I was saying... Rizza, I cannot attend with you....I'm only your-"
"You're my friend, Levi. You promised me, that you will always stand by my side....and also because you're my fantasy."
".....and you're my reality...then, please bare with me. I know nothing about student life.....Rizza."
"Sure thing, so please continue taking care of me. Classes starts next week."